Journal of Accident Investigation

KRISTIN M. POLAND, LINDA McCRAY, AND AIDA BARSAN-ANELLI
shoulder belt systems produce lower dummy head and neck
injury measures than compartmentalization and lap belt systems.
However, potential negative consequences of lap/shoulder belt
systems have not been adequately researched at this time to
allow a full determination of overall cost/benefits.
Future work will focus on using real-world accident
investigations, testing, and computer simulations to evaluate
various crash scenarios, to improve the crashworthiness of the
school bus and to assess potential new occupant protection
systems.
THE AUTHORS
KRISTIN M. POLAND, Ph. D., is a Biomechanical Engineer in the Office of Research and Engineering at the National Transportation
Safety Board. She received her B.S in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1994 and a Ph.D. in biomechanical
engineering from the University of Iowa in 1998. Dr. Poland joined the NTSB in 1998 and has participated in various forms of
modeling, simulation, and analytical studies in highway, aviation, and railroad investigations.
LINDA B. McCRAY is a Mechanical Engineer in the Office of Vehicle Safety Research at the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. She joined NHTSA in 1992 and has been involved in research on various crashworthiness issues related to children,
such as the child restraint systems standard upgrade, research on side-impact protection for children, and research under NHTSA’s
August 1998 plan to evaluate the “Next Generation” of research concerning occupant protection for all school bus passengers.
AIDA BARSAN-ANELLI is a Mechanical Engineer with Information Systems and Services, Inc. (ISSI), doing work as a contractor
for the Office of Vehicle Safety Research at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She joined ISSI in 1998 and has been
providing engineering modeling and analysis support to NHTSA related to research programs and the development of supporting
materials for NHTSA rulings on vehicle safety. These efforts included use of the MADYMO and LS-Dyna3D applications for
simulations and modeling, and use of their associated pre- and post-processing applications to generate the models and analyze the
results.
66 NTSB JOURNAL OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, SPRING 2006; VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1